I am glad Judy is inspiring the team to perform so well. This was a great appointment by the LTA.

GB will have won quite a lot of points this time round. Not the maximum 1000 points because Anne has lost and they haven't played the final doubles rubber yet. I think that GB should move up from the present #26 ranking.

RT @annekeothavong: We did it! So, so happy right now! Great Britain Fed Cup team are just rocking it

Interesting article Aileen, cheers. Wonder if George Morgan has slipped off the wish list

My initial response to that was - George who? Can't find out anything recent about him now except that his ranking is No.713. Last news was when he won the Orange Bowl in Dec 2010. Looks like yet another British male hopeful has bitten the dust.

My initial response to that was - George who? Can't find out anything recent about him now except that his ranking is No.713. Last news was when he won the Orange Bowl in Dec 2010. Looks like yet another British male hopeful has bitten the dust.

From back in September, about 2 or 3 weeks after reaching the US OPen junior semi-final.

The Beeb managed to give our girls the briefest of mentions on the 10 o'clock news - I suppose we have to be grateful for small mercies.

I thought the same thing Alis. Surely even a few words with Judy wouldn't have gone amiss? Maybe just a pity the Saturday news is so short - and tonight there were the reports on the Six Nations as well as frozen footie pitches!

I'd like to think our men can take something from this at Braehead and at least put up a decent fight against Slovakia. Certainly the ladies' victories won't have been lost on Leon Smith.

This will be Britain's first tie since their promotion to the Euro/Africa Zone Group I and, make no mistake about it, the step up in quality will be very significant.

Slovakia number one Lukas Lacko has a false ranking of 65, because he is actually much better than that: he really is a class act.

Lacko is a mercurial player because he is far too inconsistent, but he has immense talent and will surely break into the world's top 50 this year.

It will be a huge step up for James Ward and Dan Evans with Andy Murray out of the tie, and the difference in the quality of the opposition following their promotion will be vast.

A lot depends on Lacko because, while he is a very exciting player, he can also be a bit of a liability in terms of his concentration and application on and off the court.

The 24-year-old should comfortably win both his singles matches, and that puts real pressure on Ward and Evans to produce a victory along with Ross Hutchins and Colin Fleming in the doubles.

There is no doubt that Britain should win the doubles match because Hutchins and Fleming have blossomed into a very fine partnership, but the visitors must find a couple of wins from somewhere in the single.

Martin Klizan is likely to be the Slovakia number two, and he is ranked at number 120 — still higher than both Ward and Evans.

Klizan is not in Lacko's class, but he has real pedigree and, at just 22-years-old, is likely to show a real improvement over the next year, both in terms of his all-round game and his world ranking.

Equally, Ward has really developed over the last 18 months and anyone who saw him play at the Queen's Club last year will know just how dangerous he can be when he gets his serve right.

He has really kicked on over the last year and he will have to step up and produce a positive, attacking game because he is now — by default with Murray out — Britain's top player and the team leader.

The trouble is that Ward needs to be at his absolute peak if he is to beat Klizan, and Evans would need to be inspired to an even greater extent against the man coached by Karol Kucera.

It is extremely difficult to see either Ward or Evans getting any joy from their matches against Lacko, so the tie really hinges on Klizan's two rubbers.

There is no doubt that if Britain do manage to win this tie it will go down as a monumental achievement.

It would count as the biggest win for team GB for a number of years, and coach Leon Smith will know that he has a great deal to offer with Murray absent.

The British number one is right to pull out of the tie because his coach Ivan Lendl is very big on peaking at the right moments in the year, and he has to protect his fitness.

Murray never needs much input from Smith when he is playing, but this will be the kind of tie that brings out the best in the GB coach because he will have a lot to contribute in terms of helping Ward and Evans.

Slovakia represent an extremely difficult test for Britain and the hosts are the favourites. But if Smith's men can produce an unlikely win, it will be an exceptional effort.

My prediction is a 3-2 win for Slovakia with Lacko to win both of his matches and Klizan beating Evans. Ward can beat Klizan, and the GB duo will win the doubles

Also if Ward is on form then, on the face of it, a victory over Klizan, again over 4 or 5 sets isn't an impossibility, but I reckon Ward's confidence will depend on the result of his first match, and that could be crucial.

I just hope the crowd will give Ward, and the rest of the team, the same support that they would give Andy, and hopefully unnerve the Slovakians!